Shallow trench isolations (STIs) are used to separate and isolate active areas on a semiconductor wafer from each other. STIs may be formed by etching trenches, overfilling the trenches with a dielectric such as an oxide, and then removing any excess dielectric with a process such as chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) or etching in order to remove the dielectric outside the trenches. This dielectric helps to electrically isolate the active areas from each other.